Boys Basketball Practice – Monday, Nov 26
It was good to get back on the court after taking a week off for the Thanksgiving break. We introduced a new drill called the copy cat dribble. The players dribble for 5 minutes doing everything the leader does. It forces the players to keep their eyes focused on the leader and not the ball. We had some loose balls but it was a good exercise that went very well.
We moved on to the defensive slide and the slide pass. We share Monday’s with the girls team which gives us access to only half the court. The slide pass is designed for full court and became a little congested. The Free Throw Ladder was next. Since we had only 3 baskets, part of the team practiced sit dribbling while the rest completed their free throw competition. Matthew Pedemonte now sits on top of the ladder, making 6 of 10 free throws. Matthew is the 3rd player to move into the top spot.
We ran the tip in drill for the first time. The drill is impressive to watch when run correctly. It takes concentration, timing, and speed – a total team effort. We will improve as the season goes on. Coach Scott introduced spacing, area, and movement as part of our offense. Side basket layups lead us into the team huddle.
Finish strong was the theme for this practice. The huddle started by showing two clips from the movie Hoosiers. We have been trying to stress the correct shooting technique since the first practice. So far, not one of the players shoots the ball correctly. The movie clips put into slow motion the correct shoooting form and release. Friday practices are open shooting, the clips will be shown every Friday and we will work with each player on an individual basis until we get all ten players shooting the ball correctly. Back to the theme, Finish Ftrong, never coast across the finish line. This applies to life situations as well as sports. The players are learning to not only play with all their heart, but to finish what they start and finish strong.
We are planning to hold our first scrimmage at the Wednesday practice, so it was time to start practicing defense. Man to man and the 2-3 zone were introduced. Coach Scott walked the players through spacing and movement for a zone defense. We have some work to do here but it will come. We practiced movement by 3 on 2 / 2 on 1 competiotions. Practice ended with wall sits/laps. The players beat their previous best and practiced ended.
